cats are very popular. anyway that, is thursday edition of "way too early," thanks, gang. they all like my outfit, too. "morning joe" starts right now. >> all right. good morning, everybody. it's thursday. almost friday february 27th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. hi, mike. you look very nice today. >> thank you very much. >> the chair of deutch, incorporated, donny deutch. >> i'm not happy that thomas roberts stole my look. >> thomas looks good today. here comes thomas. look at that. just talking about the look, thomas. >> you're killing that suit, man. >> he has the walk of this floor, if it was lit up, he could do. >> i think it does, actually. >> wow! >> right up until that point. >> did he just really do that?

and are you all really like this? because it's amazing. >> what do you mean? >> i you guys talk about your look in clothes a lot. i'm just saying. >> i don't know about -- >> we have former white house press secretary and robert gibbs. >> you know what is awkward? i was going to wear the same thing thomas did. >> that would have been bad. >> former adviser to george w. bush. >> oh, wow! >> now a completely different look. >> look at that. >> mark mckinnon. founder of no labels. we have a lot to get to this morning. first of all, boys, this is important. don't you dare. we have a lot to you talk about involving your food. breaking news from ukraine.

overnight armed men seized control of two government buildings as putin announced he is sending troops near ukraine's border and the latest on that. and mitchell is going to announce this and why i'm holding this. >> new flavor? >> the labels on your food like this. i call this food carefully. because it's not food. this right here. >> america's drink! >> sorry, advertisers. this is -- can i say garbage? maybe poison. sorry. >> no! no! >> it's not good. they are great companies and they need to do more of the good stuff they do but you know how you have a dorito and you can't have another? go ahead. >> thank you very much. >> no, no, i'm going to show you something. just take one. >> cool ranch. >> see, you can't? they are addictive. what happens is you eat the whole thing. >> they steal your lunch as a kid? look what happened? >> you eat the whole thing. they are going to change the labels to make it more realistic to the amount that you eat. that is my deep tease. don't touch these, okay?

because they are poison too. but we are going to get to politics as well. joe is with us. did you get johnny's snap chat? >> well, it's so funny you said that. it's so funny you said that because, you know, i feel like i'm saying this on tv, but i was so -- so i was snapchatting with t.j.'s wife last night. >> not again! >> yeah. >> stop! >> they say on the i chatting with t.j.'s wife at 2:00 a.m.? >> it was actually 1:30. >> wow. >> she sends me this video. >> oh, boy. >> joe, we're on the air. joe. >> i thought this was a rehearsal. >> no. the one involving the balloons. >> oh, that one? >> t.j., do we have that? look at this. this is unbelievable.

>> wait. that's me. >> what is you on the right. right. so when she explained to me, you did this promo six months with balloons. this is how they are promoting their new season by having a crazy woman in an office area do this. you did this. you know? i don't know. >> oh, yeah, yeah, because everybody does that routine. you know? >> oh, my gosh! >> yeah. >> okay. >> it's willie. >> she is really good. >> we are glad that t.j.'s wife is snapchatting us. >> i think my touche looks better. >> what do you think, willie? who wins? ali or frazier here? >> ali, which is mika. i don't know how monica fits into all of this but i'll leave

that between you two. >> she was snapchatting and sent me this video. wait. what kind of video do you think? >> t.j. wouldn't know. he is on his way to work. >> let's move on. >> alex, i'm a little uncomfortable now. >> why don't you guys talk about that off the air. that balloon thing is weird. let's get to these new "the new york times"/cbs news polls that give a snap chat of america public. unimpressed with the congress and the president. more than half of all americans d disapprove of the president's in office. 80% disapprove of the job lawmakers have done. but when it comes to the mid terms republicans are faring better than democrats. 42% say they are more likely to choose the republican candidate where they live. the favorables for both parties are upside down. 56% are sour on the gop's

long-term prospects. compare that to the democrats 53% say they are mostly hopeful about the party's future. what is going on here, joe? >> that's a great question. i'm very glad we have robert gibbs and mark mckinnon, who guys that have worked for presidents and have looked at a lot of polls. let's start with you, robert gibbs. you got a president who is down to 41%. that is obviously a real concern. democrats aren't doing well as many would think they would be doing with the mid terms coming up. and, yet, you look at the issues, you look at brand i.d. and all this other stuff, it seems like the republicans are doing much worse in a lot of those areas. as you look at these conflicting numbers, what do you think tea from it? >> i take away from it what is different than from a presidential year and election year we are going to have that is dominate by gubernatorial and congressional races. that is a very different

electorate. i think what makes this year very challenging for democrats is you have basically a six-year itch of a presidency that has a low approval rating. you got a lot of big races, particularly senate races that will take place on terrain that is not as friendly to democrats or president obama. and an electorate that is likely to be bolder and, therefore, less young and what i mean by that is seniors will vote at a higher number than they would in a presidential year. african-americans, hispanics and asians will vote on that and that makes it a challenging set of terrain for the democratic party. >> robert, let's talk about the 41%, the president's approval rating. it's very low for a "the new york times" poll. that surprised me. the number was lower than i expected. why 41%? >> well, i think that's a number you've seen ruffle where the president has probably been at

since some time early in the fall. i think the number -- when you look at -- you look inside the poll an you read the story, you have people that are very upset with, not surprisingly, what theron getting out of washington. they are not getting compromise, they are not getting discussion about what should be happening around some of the bigger economic issues. they know they are not likely to see anything come out of this congress and signed by this president and i think, in many ways, it's a pox on both of your houses. congressional approval is fairly low. presidential approval is fairly low. and at this point it seems republicans are not being penalized or seen necessarily or completely as the party that is stopping all of this stuff. again, americans are more just sort of saying to anybody in washington we know you're not getting the job done. >> mark mckinnon, you look at

these numbers and see a lot of different things. i tell you what i see in here is exactly what republicans have finally started talking about over the past several months since the debacle in the fall. we may do well in the mid terms but we need to get our act together not by finding the reincarnation of ronald reagan but come up with issues that reflect our values and beliefs but grab the imagination of the american people. as i always say, you can beat something with nothing in mid terms but when you're running for president, you can't beat something with nothing. that's what i got as a republican out of these numbers, good news, bad news. what did you get? >> i agree with robert. overall, it's never good for -- or rarely good for the incumbent party in midterm election and the exception was the 2002 in the post-9/11 environment. the buck is going to stop with

the incumbent party in power because america is not happy. i think quite likely the outcome the republicans keep the house and a possibility the republicans will pick up the senate even losing mitch mcconnell's seat. we have to be divided again until 2016. it is an opportunity for the republicans to put together a proactive message. i think it's a good time to be talking about our plans for the future in 2016. >> donny, you can look individually at the president and the way congress is viewed but take this all in tolg totta. 80% are angry or dissatisfied with the way things are going in washington. it's and old theme at this point. we see it in just about every poll. as robert said this is a pox on both houses. >> it's only three-point spread i think between the democrats

and the republicans both on the negative side. statistically, not a big issue. i actually think that this is going to be a case of best human being wins a race. i think one could give an argument -- joe, i actually -- a little sideways where from you are on this. i think more than ever. the issues you could argue on both sides. you got the republicans that can ride the anti-obamacare wave and i think what is going to move each race is not as much issues as compelling human beings that motivate people, particularly as we go to 2016, because, i think to your point, willie, everybody's point, both parties are on the way to negative side. to me, it, more than ever, we need compelling human beings. people are not going to be on party lines. >> there has never been a more compelling human being in the last 50 years or since john f. kennedy to run for the presidency than barack obama. his message of hope and change

resonated throughout the country. that, i think, more than anything else that is going on presently is reflected in the polls that is low favor rating. it's naturally for people to blame everything on the president. he is the face of washington and not your individual face of congress and that is a result of his numbers, partially. >> i wonder, robert gibbs, if this poll is a reflection, we look at the numbers and don't seem to add up and you go down issue after issue and the democrats seem to do pretty well. you look at obamacare that, obviously, is a huge drag on this president and perhaps the democratic party. i'm just wondering is 2014 the midterm in 2014 going to end up being like 2010 and possibly a reflection on the affordable care act, on obamacare? >> i think the outcome of 2014 is a lot like what mark said.

i think you'll see republicans retain the house, redistricting after the 2010 elections. probably if not, we won't see a huge wave and probably not see a lot of change there. the senate, i think, is very, very much in play. tough terrain for the democratic party and i think it's going to be incumbent upon becomes to go out and talk about the positive benefits of health care reform, talk about the lack of denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and keeping your children up to the age of 26 on their health care. i think if democrats make a very big strategic mistake, if they leave the landscape simply to republicans and the koch brothers to describe health care reform, if they do that, that is a recipe for complete disaster. they have to go out and talk about the positive benefits of it. >> we have a lot to get to. as a footnote to this conversation the latest cbs

news/"the new york times" poll show who americans want to run for presidents. among democratic candidates far and away hillary clinton 64% doubling the next closest contender is vice president joe biden and closer field among republicans with rand paul narrowly in the lead and ted cruz in the back of the pack. 54% say they don't know enough about him which is interesting. moving on to arizona. after days of speculation, arizona governor jan brewer has vetoed a controversial bill that divided the state. supporters touted the legislation as protecting religion freedom for businesses but critics said sb 1060 denying legal service to same-sex couples. the governor's decision follows intense pressure, including thousands of petitions from human rights activists and press releases from some of the nation's largest corporation. among them is american airlines and daeelta and apple.

>> instead, this is the first policy bill to cross my desk. senate bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i've not heard one example in arizona where business owners religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly worded and could result in negative consequences. after weighing all of the argument i have vetoed senate bill 1062 moments ago. >> john mccain and jeff plak who are republican senators publicly lobbied for the governor's veto and hailed the decision they made. >> mark, call it like she is.

governor brewer was looking at business. she heard from the commissioner of the nfl they may take the super bowl away from arizona and hundreds of million dollars of convention business coming in and out of arizona. she made a play and she disappointed a lot of conservatives with her decision to veto that bill but i'm not sure a principle stand by her as much as money. >> the coalition of reasonable that weighed in. it wasn't just business. both the republican senators from arizona so, you know, this was a ridiculous piece of legislation. even the -- many of the people who voted for it, even republicans in arizona said they didn't understand it, they didn't understand what the ultimate consequences would be. so this was a big black eye for arizona and not good for the republican party, by the way. so we are glad to have this off the radar screen. >> i'm a little slow. explain the bill to me. i have come clean. i really don't understand most of what it's about. >> actually, i found the bill to be stunning and she pointed out very broad.

you could deny service on same-sex couples. >> or to anyone. >> or any other kind of group that you felt -- >> to that point, in this day and age -- >> yeah, i know. archaic. >> how that was even in motion? >> you have to ask yourself the question what is going on in arizona. this is the string of things that have occurred in arizona beginning with the refusal, you know, to recognize martin luther king day years ago. mark mckinnon just indicated several members of the legislature in arizona who voted for it said, gee, i didn't realize what was in the bill. it's like two pages! >> the idea behind it -- this is the way -- is protect religious liberty. if you are fundamentally opposed to homosexuality and you have a private business you -- >> willie and i walk into a

7-eleven holding hands and we order a big gulp, the owner could say, no, you don't get your big gulp. >> noe joe? >> as we were talking about yesterday, there is also the possibility and so overly broad. i could walk into a place and somebody will say he is divorced, i'm not going to serve him. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> or they could see donny walk in and say, you know -- >> they could say a lot of things, joe. let's just leave it there. >> you are wearing baby gap muscle t-shirts while dating a 21-year-old woman. >> oh, you know? >> the thing is, it is so broad and overly generalized you could have people denying service to so many. only thing i'm wondering, donny, is why it took the governor so

long to veto this? why did it take her two days? it seemed like it would have been a much smarter part to quickly get it and quietly veto it and be done to. >> she has the friends she still has to play to and she came out at the end of the day against it and same reason it politically always goes this way. we know why she did it. it's just sad in this day and age, even on the table, it's even on the table. >> joe, on a broader level, you've talked about republicans that, you know, want to play the base and republicans that want to win. and i think the surprising thing here, you know, is that she didn't see this coming. is that fair? >> well, i don't know. i personally, i liked what she said. she was talking about what her goal was, fixing a broken system to protect children and she said this is the first policy bill that you guys send my way.

seriously? you know, it's the same thing that happened in new hampshire. new hampshire, republicans got control of the house in 2010 and, you know, the first couple of bills they passed didn't -- it seemed to appeal to the ideological base far more than the rest of the people in new hampshire and they lost the state legislature a couple of years later. so, yeah. let's go to mark mckinnon and let's just wrap it up, mark. it seems to me, republicans, unfortunately, we face an uphill battle because when our people do something stupid, it's national news the next day. like this. i mean, democrats have much more latitude to do stupid things across the fruited plains without having the national media pick it up and say, well, they represent the entire

democratic party. that is an ongoing problem for us, i guess, because we are out of power, right? >> well, that's true, joe, but problems we are bringing on ourselves. we keep trying to rebrand the party and we have one step forward and two steps back with incidents like this in arizona, so we just need to -- we need to put a better foot forward and stop having these kind of things happen. we did have some good news out of texas yesterday and maybe talk more about that with the federal district court judge that ruled against the gay prohibition in t. >> the will of the people always win. you dump these on the people, people have been reaching in on the table. you can't squelch the people. >> donny, enjoy your sugar and cheddar cheese and dextrose and sodium acetate and that is a great break fast.

coming up on "morning joe," congressman dave camp with his new tax plan that is drawing fire from both sides of the aisle. andy serwer will be us and the ice skating duomeryl davis and charlie white will join us. here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> no more doritos? >> we got them. >> oh, one more! >> oh! >> eat the whole thing. >> that is a step away from joe scarborough who just leaves it sitting -- >> learn from the master. >> what is the weather? two storms for the west coast. the first in california yesterday and the second one is out in the pacific. this is the big one and waiting for. it's not going to end the drought but take a dent out of it. areas up there in the mountains, we could see up to four feet of snow in the mountains of california. this is much needed.

we are predicting about 2 inches of rain and maybe 3 inches of rain in l.a. the most they have seen from one storm in three years. gives you the perspective of how bad this drought has been. of course, the temperatures in the northern plains. this is just brutal stuff. i mean, i know it's day after day and it's been all winter long, but to be at the end of february with a minus 41 windchill in minnesota is horrendous! by the way, it is 74 in miami right now. a difference of 120 degrees from the temperature in northern minnesota to south florida. actually, down to 72. sorry. down to 72 in south beach. again, the temperatures are cold. as we go throughout the day today, even with the sun, it remains very cold. that storm -- i'm choking after eating doritos -- that storm will move across the country. we will see rain and snow eventually from this storm and looks to be a significant storm and impact the midwest on sunday.

if you are traveling indianapolis and east coast and philadelphia and boston on monday, that looks like a difficult travel day with winter weather. yet to be determined, though, whether it's snow or ice or mix of rain. no snow in d.c. for you this morning. you're watching "morning joe." [ male announcer ] hey, look at you! you're an emailing, texting, master of the digital universe. but do you protect yourself? ♪ apparently not. when you access everything, you give everyone access to everything about you. but that's ok. while you do your thing... [ alert rings ] we'll be here at lifelock, doing our thing. watching out for things your credit card alone can't. [ alert rings ] and relentlessly protecting your identity. get lifelock protection and live life free. [ alert rings ]

♪ let's take a look at the morning papers for some of the other major headlines this morning. "the new york times" there is new information about the whereabouts of ousted ukrainian president vic tor yanukovych. they are reporting yanukovych is in moscow and asking for protection from extremists. armed men reportedly seized control of two government buildings in the region krej re

of crimea. vladimir putin announced he was sending more than 150,000 troops near ukraine's border for military exercises. russia says the war games are not related to the crisis in ukraine and we are supposed to believe that, joe? >> mika, that didn't take long, did it? >> no. let's see. >> we predicted that was going to happen. you said as soon as the olympics ended, you said he was going to crack down and send troops that way. >> i think it's frightening. i don't really understand where the line is with putin. >> there is no line, unfortunately. "the daily news" reports of images around the capital are showing those are caught in the cross-fire of the country's long running civil war and also sponsored by vladimir putin. thousands of people line up to receive food supplies, many of whom show signs of starvation.

the buildings in the background bear the scars of the near constant fighting that has been going on in syria for too long, as well over a hundred thousand people have died and the slaughter continues because of a regime propped up by vladimir putin. general motors recall of faulty ignition switches, they will be recalled. the total to recalled cars is 1.6 million. 33 crashes and 13 deaths linked to the ignition switch area. the automaker says it will cooperate with the investigation. from our parade of papers. the "san jose mercury news." tesla is unveiling $5 billion plan to massive gigafactory to manufacture batteries.

tesla says it's exploring locations in texas, nevada, arizona, and new mexico. the factory aims to drive down the costs of lithium battery and make their cars more affordable. the "atlanta journal-constitution." delta airlines will make a change to its frequent flyer program. i wonder if you could use it now. they will reward customers based on ticket prices rather than miles flown. delta joins jetblew and southwest and have similar programs. experts predict other airlines will follow delta's lead. the change will start next year. you have certain flights you can use and random times and then you can't. it's difficult. >> i've seen the last couple of years of delta and how they treat their frequent flyer customers and it's, for the most part, very positive changes.

of course, as you know, i have not always been positive about my experiences with delta going, you know, 30 years back. without a doubt, a big change. >> i would like to take this opportunity to talk about airlines. i'm outraged that teet teterbor more peanuts. >> if you live west of the hudson river, donny is talking about where rich people go in their private planes and in donny's case, helicopter to fly out privately and he is upset in the waiting room that the waiting room with teterboro, you don't have the people in the pink vests running up and offering you, you know, prime rib and grey poupon.

it is hitting new between the eyes, donny. the miami herald. video of justin bieber taking a sobriety test in miami available to the public. why are we even reading this in t.j.? >> this is great video. >> did your wife snapchat this video to you, t.j.? >> not this time. >> oh, not this time! >> wait a second. john tower, did she snapchat that to you? >> i thought it was a pretty good test. >> it looks like me. >> his turnaround was a bad one. to politico. mike allen has a look at the playbook. mike, good morning. >> good morning, willie. >> great piece up on politico by glenn thrush this morning about vice president joe biden. reported that the vice president has clashed with the president's staff. take us through some of the highlights of this piece. so much to get through in

glenn's piece. >> this is the cover story of the second edition of politico magazine joe biden in winter. joe rode an amtrak train with joe biden in philadelphia. had an amazing conversation. coming away saying he is still a happy warrior and recognizes he probably is not going to be president but not ready to give up and definitely plans to try. glenn came away both from his conversation with the vice president and from talking to countless people around him that the vice president does want to do it. willie, the juiciest three words in this article are when the vice president is talking about his chances in '16. he told three friends that glenn talked to that he thinks he is the most qualified for '16. a shot at hillary clinton there. he says he has seen her up close and believes he can go toe to toe with her. the vice president's plan is this year to travel around the country as much as he can and

helping out candidates running in the midterm and talk about infrastructure around the country. the one thing he is not going to do, he is not going to set up a leadership pac to give money to other candidates because he think israel too late to be a difference. glenn thrust cycle what his case would be if he ran for president. joe biden had an answer ready. he said because of his record and his experience and his relationships with individual foreign leaders and domestic leaders, that's why he is telling friends he is the most qualified. >> in fact, glenn thrush reports on a memo that was drafted by ron mcclain positioning biden in the 2016 race as a progressive alternative to hillary clinton. so it's at least on their minds suffice it to say. there is one that is making news one piece of this where he says he have a blanking target on my back, talking about his relationship with democrats up on the hill including harry

reid. what does he mean that he has a target on his back? >> he was talking about the fact, initially, he was so valuable on the hill and then sidelined and recognizes he's in a different place in the party than so many of these democratic leaders are. that's part of what la put him at odds with some members of the president's staff. the article reports he no longer on speaking terms with jim messina, the manager of president obama's re-election campaign. the man we have talked about on on the show that is a democratic karl rove and made it clear he is supporting hillary clinton. glenn makes a great point in here. one of the reasons that vice president biden has been so great on the show, glenn points out he is refreshing humanity at a time when so many of politics is driven by calculation and money. >> mike allen, one of the things, you've heard it from democrats, they have been enraged on the hill because we always talk about republican

obstructionism. harry reid doesn't want to get deals done either in a lot of respects. he doesn't let republican ideas come up. a lot of times when deals weren't getting done, joe biden would go and he would talk to both sides and he would be very effective in doing what democrats in the harry reid senate wouldn't do and that is strike a deal that put them in a bad position where he actually, joe biden, got things done because he is old school. he believes you get things done by keeping relationships going and actually talking to the other side. and let's just face it, that pissed off harry reid and a lot of democrats that he treated republicans with respect and got deals done. >> joe, you hear it again and again from republicans in these private negotiations where harry reid or the white house is more likely to try to argue why their position is better. joe biden will go right for that middle ground. he even says in this article that he thinks the president is

too cautious, that he is much more likely to plunge ahead and, as you say, make that deal. >> off of this piece, speaker boehner met with the president and it was in the paper a few days ago. you put joe biden in the white house you'll come out with a deal. >> griffin says in this piece biden is a person if you put him in a room with a lot of these people on the hill you find a way to focus on what you agree on and you have a product when you come out of the room. >> absolutely. >> you know who quietly, willie, who quietly was talking? probably the low point of relations between the white house and capitol hill republicans, eric cantor would quietly go up and talk to joe biden. they would try to strike a deal to try to avoid a government shutdown or possible default on the debt. biden can talk to anybody. he can do a deal with anybody

and he respects members of congress on both sides and that is why a lot of democratic activists are upset with him, but the guy actually knows how to get things done in a city where there are fewer and fewer joe biden's, unfortunately, who know how to make those deals. >> no question, he has been an asset in that relationship. mike allen, a great piece up on politico. >> have a great day. >> i went one-on-one yesterday with shaquille o'neal yesterday, 7'1" and little old me. >> he creamed you. he totally owned it, right? >> you're going to see highlights next. >> it shows white men can jump. (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go.

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all right. mika? >> yes. >> on "today," the kid here. >> willie geist. >> he challenges shaq. >> no way. not possible. >> absolutely. to a one-on-one. >> he's a big man. >> shaquille o'neal, willie geist on live tv. watch this. >> i always wanted to defend shaq. >> you can't. >> come on, willie. come on, willie. :no! come on, willie. oh, ref. that's a foul, man. that's a foul.

>> charge. >> that was a charge. >> charge! >> oh, man. >> shaquille o'neal, the man! >> willie! show him, willie. show him! show him, big man! bring it, bring it! >> bristol, connecticut. >> look at willie! >> also known as "way too early" one-on-one matchup. how many can say they scored on shaq? how many? >> and one! >> i should have been going to the line after that. that was the old up and under. go up and sneak it under. >> fantastic. this is becoming like a will by geist highlight reel. >> as big as you think shaq is on tv, in person, holy cow! i got a little taste of trying to figure out what it was like

against him. >> you are like a flea. >> i had to use some ymca moves! >> that was incredible! >> throw up a prayer and sometimes it's answereded. up next, andy serwer with a list the world's most admired companies. >> doritos! >> cool ranch! >> don't you dare. >> we will be right back. ♪

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♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ ♪ okay, 47 past of the hour. it's time now to talk about the world's most admired companies. joe, could you text me on my

samsung watch, could you please? because i want to show the managing editor of "fortune" manage, andy serwer the world's most admired companies, his list, of which apple is in the list, the top five. >> number one. >> number one, really? i don't think for long. >> i don't disagree. they are definitely under assault by samsung like you suggested. but people say i'll cale you on my iphone. iphone has become a generic word for phone. they will become another samsung if they -- >> you say by consumers or the inside industry? >> business people primarily. in other words, we survey about 600 business people in terms of company they cover and following.

executives and directors and analysts and it's about the thousand biggest companies in the world. >> you got apple, google in the tech companies? >> amazon. people are using amazon like a federal express and starbucks using hoof technology and per se about three of them. you look at these families and they are familiar but these are the companies that execute year after year. in terms of investing people say buy great growth stocks is what these companies are. disney continues to execute in a way that my parent company time warner has been unable to do in terms of making companies work across divisional lines. >> coca-cola, talk to me. >> coke is actually an interesting situation because they are under the gun a little bit because of obesity. >> i was surprised they were in there, to be honest with you. >> they have been able to overcome these things over the years, but, you know, they are sort of at it right now. whereas a company like starbucks is not.

starbucks is so amazing because my kids, teenagers, still go to starbucks in a way they are not using facebook as much but they continue to use starbucks and starbucks in china is just awesome. >> starbucks the first to understand that experience is not as more important than what you're selling. >> if i could go back to coke. >> don't spill it on the table. >> at the top of the show i said this were poison and i do believe that. but they have actually really made an effort to be on the cutting edge of transforming what they offer to the customer in terms of the health concerns about soda pop and other things. coke is not just this liquid any more. >> that is a business decision? i'm glad it's working. >> it is a business decision. >> that's clear liquids and tea. >> i think if they stayed exactly as they were as mcdonald's is making changes as well, they would be in the middle of a lawsuit. >> they talk about this every

single seconds of every single day. it's tea and waters and fruit drinks and when you ghoo a store and see the number of different kind of drinks and keeping up in that business is insane. there's 20 new drinks every quarter. trying to really get something that sticks with the consumers consistently. is that your samsung watch? >> yes. i just got it attached on my watch. >> it's going to be very, very difficult. they have got the distribution. getting the drinks all across the world into all of these little stores is nine-tenths of it and they have got that distribution. >> i think on apple, not to talk about this product, but these, they can't be selling them at the prices they are selling stuff. >> i have a new blackberry. i love it. >> that's old school. the new issue of "fortune" is out now. andy serwer, thank you very much. still ahead, we unveil the

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coming up at the top of the hour, nbc news political director chuck todd. plus, andrea mitchell breaks down her exclusive interview

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he is drowsy, a little disoriented and, let's face it, looks a little clinic. they say ownedogs are getting i their owner's supply of pot. the concern is edibles have a concentration of marijuana meant for controlled human consumption and dogs weigh far less than humans and have no control. those it seems to me don't last for just hours. they last days. >> for a dog, 72 hours and maybe 96 hours. >> that tongue is never going back in his mouth! >> that's a step up from my -- report. welcome back to "morning joe." donny deutch and mark mckinnon and mike barnicle still joining un'look it at the table. thomas roberts. can you unbutton one more button? i'm not looking. just button it. >> why?

>> it won't turn into a pillar of salt. >> it's a good look. >> nope. >> from washington, nbc news chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. >> i guess i have to go tieless? >> this is a variety of different looks today and none to do with us girls. speaking of girls. host of "andrea mitchell reports" now at noon, andrea mitchell. >> and very buttoned up. >> yes, very buttoned up. you look beautiful. beautiful. joe, can we get right to the polls, you think? >> let's do that. >> okay. new cbs news/"the new york times" poll gives a snapshot of an american public unimpressed with the congress and the president. more than half of all americans disapprove of the president's performance in office. his approval numbers have literally flipped from about a year ago. the opinion of congress is even worse.

only 13% approve of the job lawmakers have done, but when it comes to the mid terms, republicans are faring better than democrats. this is interesting. 42% say they are more likely to vote for the republican candidate over the democrat where they live. but when you look inside the unfavorables for both parties, republicans actually fare worse. 61% see the republican party as unfavorable, 53% for democrats. joe? >> chuck, there are a lot of cross currents here but if you're the party of the white house six years in and you got a president at 41%, if the president is still at 41% in october and none of us know where he will be in april, let alone october but if that is the case can't you look at a president's approval rating and, for the most part guess what the outcome pretty effectively of what that midterm election is six years in?

>> especially if he is 41% nationally, imagine where he is at in arkansas and louisiana and kentucky, georgia, alaska. he is below 40. yes. over time, presidential job approval has proved to be more important to a midterm election than any other poll number, but i have to say you look at this, it does feel like an irresistible force and immovable object. the immovable object for the republican party, they are favorable ratings opinion obviously, this is the recipe for democrats to survive in senate races. to me, one of the challenges of the republicans is going to be on one hand, running against obama on health care. they are going to get some traction on. but the incumbent democrats in particular, they are all running against house republicans,

cassidy, cotton, danes. a new one in colorado, gardner. does the republican unfavorable rating in particular stick more? if it's going to stick, it's going to stick to a house republican trying for a promotion to the senate. that is the challenge for the democrats in particular. if the democrats survive and hold the senate is because of that republican unfavorable number that successfully was pasted on a house republican trying for the promotion. >> here is a question for robert gibbs and mark mckinnon in that order on. robert gibbs first. do these incessant polls, front page of "the new york times," what impact, if any, do they have on this morning's work habits, work conversations within the white house? >> well, i think there's, no doubt, that the 2014 election looms in a pretty big way over washington. it's going to determine probably, in many ways, the shape of the contours of any

sort of agenda in 2015 and 2016. i think if you're sitting in the white house this morning, you understand what is at stake in the 2014 elections and how it can impact, not just what you're working on today, but what you might or might not be able to work on in the next two years. >> i want to get to ukraine. and then andrea's interview with the secretary of state. reports this morning that ousted ukrainian president yanukovych is staying in moscow and asking for protections. he hasn't been seen since saturday. overnight, armed men reportedly seized control of two government buildings in the region of crimea and raised the russian flag and also increased tensions between the u.s. and russia after president vladimir putin announced he was sending more than 150,000 troops near ukraine's border for military exercises. russia denied the war games are related to the crisis in

ukraine, but secretary of state john kerry issued a stern warning that any involvement would be a grave mistake. >> it would be very difficult for me to understand how russia would reconcile its position on libya, its position on syria, it's warnings against intervention in another country and not respect the sovereignty of ukraine and the people there. we are hoping that russia will not see this as sort of a continuation of the cold war. we don't see it that way. we do not believe this should be an east/west, russia/united states. this is not "rocky 4" believe me. >> andrea, more about your interview and also a broad look at the situation overall because the troop movements, i don't know how they can't be connected. are we supposed to act like we don't see what is happening?

>> that's why kerry was so strong. he was much tougher on vladimir putin and on russia in this warning. they are very concerned. this could be gun vote diplomacy and this could be putin flexing his muscles, and most likely is. 150,000 troops in motion there near the ukraine border. this is not an accident. this is the largest troop movement since the cold war. we are talking about a very dangerous situation. now we hear overnight that yanukovych is in moscow, that buildings as you point out have been taken in crimea. this is so fought with tension between east and west. when we talk about syria, by the way, a new warning that he also gave to me that russia is now upping its weapons delivers to a simon when assad is in the peace negotiations in geneva with the

united states. late yesterday, the state department was devastatingly critical of the assad regime. the assad regime has frozen the personal assets of the relatives who went to geneva over an alleged peace deal. we are seeing russia's handprint or footprint in so many regions of the world overhanging all of these negotiations and, obviously, right now on the ukraine border. >> joe? >> on ukraine. but mark mckinnon, the syria crisis continues. well over a hundred thousand people killed. the level of brutality is staggering. the united states has stayed out, not gotten involved in it. but we've had two presidents, one that you worked for and the one in the oval office right now, have underestimated the

brutality of vladimir putin. at what point is the united states going to have to treat him as is he, and that is one of the most destabilizing forces on the globe and someone who sees himself -- he sees himself as an enemy of the united states? >> yeah. i think that those -- the images broadcast on nbc from the olympics from syria, great credit to the network for showing those images off the top of the broadcast, i think were just devastating. it is a true crisis and true international crisis. that bright line has been crossed over and over again. that red line. and increasingly i think it's clear that the russians and syrians are working hand in hand and the crisis only continues to deteriorate as reported by andrea. >> thomas roberts? >> andrea, let me ask you about the financial aid issue and whether or not the u.s. is going to invest in that going forward with ukraine, as well as russia. where does that stand? and secretary kerry? talk about that and what that

means to the country going forward because, obviously, if we follow the money, we will find out maybe where the ukrainian allegiance will go. >> there will be loan guarantees and the u.s. will be one of the leaders in the international monetary fund. he made that very clear. we were there for the ukrainian people. there is going to be a tug of war, as there was. this whole crisis, most recently, was precipitated by the ukraine's government saying they wanted to align with the european union financially and russia upping the ante and putin offering 15 billion. the push/pull of russia demanding its flungs ovinfluenc ukraine and the people wanting to be connected to europe and that is where we will see the crisis. what kerry also said -- this is really significant -- is a warning to putin. first of all, look at how rapidly this uprising on your border arose and how quickly that government was taken down.

that's a caution to you and the way you run your own government. and you do not want a basket case, an economic basket case on your border and we can bail it out, you can't. >> chuck todd, let's move from ukraine to arizona. you were talking yesterday about jan brewer and how long it took for her to move on this bill that i think most people thought she was going to veto any way. i thought her statement was fairly strong and i liked what she said that she had priorities and that this was a first bill that they sent to her from the legislature regarding policy, and basically said it's overly broad, it's going to cause a multitude of problems, and i'm going to veto it. i like the statement, but i take it you think that it may have been a day or two late, right? >> i do. it's interesting. yesterday, joe, just in the way i conduct my day, when i'm in the car -- most of the time i'm listening to some news channels, i might or might not listen to a

lot of espn radio. do you realize in the afternoon and the evening before she made her statement, it was being talked about on all of the espn radio broadcasts. it was the top story on the issue of the super bowl. i think it was one of those deals where she, by delaying it, sort of it pushed this issue into the mainstream culturally out of the political debate and it really is just another black eye for arizona. and it's one of those the longer it got drawn out, the more it put arizona in an unfavorable light, you know, and the recent history of arizona between being one of the last states to recognize martin luther king jr. day, a holiday. the issue with, of course, sb 10 and the infamous immigration legislation in that state and now this. just delaying it certainly didn't help the republican party. you saw rick scott on my show yesterday struggle three different times, didn't want to answer the question. by the end of the day, he was getting hammered by not

answering the question and he ends up putting a statement out. look. this is on the arizona state legislature, a very conservative, out of the republican mainstream in arizona. remember, the arizona republican party just about a month ago censureed john mccain. they did more brand damage to the republicans nationally. >> i think that is fair. donny? >> it's a lightning rod. it's contained in arizona but if you are a democrat running particularly as chuck pointed out, you got a lot of these house republicans running for these senate seats, you're able to just kind of paint that swath across the entire party. >> chuck todd, thank you so much. we will see you coming up on oip the daily rundown." and, andrea, everyone will be watching you at noon eastern time. thank you so much. robert gibbs, mark mckinnon, thank you both as well.

up next, saving the site. we know health care.gov was a disaster. first, to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> why are you so happy about the snow coming on sunday and monday, mika? >> how is travel on monday? >> could you travel tuesday instead? >> i could do that. >> maybe? >> have you no choice. >> terrific. thanks. exactly. let's talk about how this will impact everyone. the storms on the west coast have to go across the country over the next five days and with it into the cold air, we will get another winter storm. we have one storm going to california. the second one is loading up and the second storm makes its way across the country over the weekend and the winter weather producer. half an inch of rain in los angeles and that is significant. take what we can get. the second storm is bigger and

friday to saturday event and 2 to 3 inches in l.a. and a lot of rain for california and exactly what we need and it's going to help. not end the story of the drought but it will certainly help. as far as what we are going to deal with across the rest of the country, it's bitterly cold as advertised. pretty much everywhere east of the rockies. only south florida is getting away with some nice weather. look how cold it is today in chicago. the cold air even with the sunshine will be over new england on friday. it's as that storm moves through the rockies and then saturday out into the plains it will start to tap some of that moisture from the gulf. confidence is growing for a significant snow and ice storm across the central plains, ohio valley. somewhere between the mid-atlantic and southern new england looks to be the target zone for monday for snow and icy type weather. hopefully, after that, we will be done with it but i feel like i keep saying that. a nice shot there of d.c. cold sunshine this morning. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ vo: once upon a time

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♪ welcome back to "morning

joe." it's 18 past the hour. i'm just going to tweet at morning mika your chest hair look and we will -- >> you mean thomas? >> no, actually thomas is showing more chest than donny. think about it and donny is jealous. this show is very counterintuitive along many lines and so we will take a poll on twitter. i am starting a new handle. is there joe's sweater and thomas roberts chest hair. it's a twitter and making the rounds. joining us on set the managering editor on of "time" magazine, nancy gibbs. >> good morning. >> a new issue of "time" magazine on the cover. code red. the untold store of fixing healthcare.g healthcare.gov. is it fixed? >> it is but what it took to get there is an unbelievable tale. >> what is the tale? we sort of glossed over that, i think. people don't really know how it was fixed. some people don't even think it

was fixed. >> at the moment that everyone discovered what a disaster it was and the white house came out saying partly it's because so many people are trying to enroll that we can't handle all of this volume, privately, the debate they were having whether it could be saved at all or whether they were going to have to start over, just scrap the whole thing and there was about a week in the middle of october where that was the debate. in the end, it was a bunch of outside tech wizards, many from silicon valley, on leave from google, many of whom who had been kind of the wizards behind the re-election campaign and helped to reengineer how plorks work who came in and looked at the site and figure out what it would take to get it up and running and locked themselves down in a command center day and night and through the weekend and through thanksgiving around the clock to get it up and running. >> the white house had the head winds knowing that certain states were not putting up their own state exchanges. the ones that did had high

success rates. the states that had to rely on healthcare.gov are the ones that saw this epic collapse. didn't they know going in that there were republican governors what weren't going to allow for their own state exchanges to fire up? >> part of the problem that the people who came in from the outside were shocked by, the government has no experience in ruling out a product to consumers or else they would know that you never do it all at once. you start small. you see what works. you scale it. and this rollout which was suddenly open to millions of people, you know, that alone was a significant problem for them and then the bottlenecks that they found, the structural problems they found. the fact there was no one in charge. for the first few days they are trying to figure out who is actually responsible for this thing? what i love is that they brought in a engineer from google, the site reliability manager from google who knows what he is doing and he ended up really creating a war room that them all working morning and night

pounding the bugs and getting the thing working. >> earlier we were talking about the polls. they are underneath the polls, we didn't touch on it much, is there a tick-up for obamacare. for the first time more people don't want it repealed and the republicans i think had an easy club going into the midterm elections. i wonder four to six months from now that continues to tick up and obamacare is not so easy any more. >> the critics and were saying this means the whole policy doesn't work. now the site working more smoothly the supporters can say, see, the whole thing is working. the policy can't work without the website and technology is working. obama kept saying over the summer. this whole thing depends on the technology working which is why it's especially amazing how little he knew and how little the white house knew about the problems they were going to run into. i think you're right, donny. it's between now and the midterm

elections how many people are finding about the access to their doctors and hospitals and to their care has changed, something in their premiums and copay is changing. i do think it's people's individual experiences with their own health care that is going to determine whether people think overall this policy is good or not. >> what about young people? which is really the focus now to try to get young people signed up and find different ways to reach them. they don't have experience with health care. so this will be their first. wouldn't that be a sign of hope if they can get the message out to young people? >> all the time over the summer and advance of the launch they were not focusing on the technology is because they were focusing on exactly what you said, on the outreach, the marketing, the getting young people to be aware and interested. you've heard michelle obama say this last week that kids are knuckleheads and need to know this is available to them. all along, it's been clear that getting young people to embrace

this as part of their own financial life is crucial. >> and i know that that huge push is under way. there is also really interesting article on an issue that is really one that we discuss here a lot on "morning joe" and one that i feel strongly about and it's on richard -- the wage warrior. richard berman? >> yes. . who is one of the key figures of the center of the minimum wage fight and it's been a fascinating argument we have been going through forever does raising the minimum wage lift people out of poverty and what is the national toft khost and what is the cost of the economy? he'll point to things like restaurants that if the minimum wage goes up, they are more likely to say you're going to place your order by an ipad rather than with a waiter or waitress so it's going to destroy those jobs. we wanted -- it's been such an interesting debate and such a heated one so we wanted to focus on who are the players that are

really moving the levers with lawmakers and with politicians about whether -- how to understand the economics -- >> it is fascinating when we think about what it means to work under the tipped portion of minimum wage where it's $2.13 as opposed to national level of $7.25. i was a way or titer out of col and made $2.13 and lived off of tips in the '90s. this is ridiculous to think it is still the same but you make a great point how restaurants need to figure out what it means to change that. now, some of the policy that is discussed is move that forward by about 70% to mirror the federal minimum wage and take it up to did $7 an hour if we did get minimum wage to $10.10 in the country. you think about that, seven bucks an hour. >> antiisn't it interesting how it seems increasingly that a lot of policy debates that are occurring in washington are almost superseded by private

decisions that companies are make to go decide on their own, they are going to raise the minimum wage and they are going to raise their basic pay scale. >> costco, yeah. >> it seems we see this. the more and slower are unable to reach a decision the more the private sector or private individuals and private nonprofits are moving in to take up that slack which is interesting. we are seeing this in so many different areas of political economic life and minimum wage is another one of those. >> where there is a void of leadership, you can fill it if you are smart enough to take the opportunity. that's what i think costco and gap are on the cutting edge and a couple of other companies, cbs, exactly. the new cover of "time" magazine is "code red." newspaper a new proposal could redesign nutrition labels as we know them. how the change would revolutionize the way we think about food. that's next on "morning joe."

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♪ triple caramel chunk. >> wow. >> yeah. >> that's a healthy blend of caramel and chocolate chunk. breakfast of champions.

>> i'm shaking. a new proposal in the fda. alex in my ear, nobody knows what we are talking about. alex, i'll get to it. this is really good! that is the problem. the new proposal from the fda and the obama administration could change the way you think about your food. i'm thinking about it. the nutrition labels that appear on the packaging on most foods will undergo a face-lift and they will be slightly more honest. nbc's tom costello is in washington with the story. >> reporter: biggest change to the labels in 20 years. these are the labels found on more than 700,000 items. they list everything from serving size to calories along with key ingredients. more than half of us now check them but they are not always accurate. another day. another run to the grocery store for julie monticello with six kids to feed she has always one eye on the nutrition labels. >> my red flag is if the label is like this long. >> reporter: but the labels themselves don't always tell the

whole story. >> i try to look at the specific ingredients but mostly i'm looking at how many ingredients. >> reporter: now, for the first time, in 20 years, the fda is proposing big changes. here is an existing label and here is the proposed new label. including more accurate serving and calorie information since most people eat far more than the current label suggests. producers would also have to include added sugars to the list. along with potassium and individual d and daily values for sodium and fiber would be revised. >> that is important to me because a lot of times i don't have time to look at all of the nutrients on a label. >> reporter: advocates no crazy in labeling saying the changes are long overdue. >> the kind of foods we are eating is causing a lot of illness and premature deaths among americans. the food label can help guide us towards healthier foods. >> reporter: it's all part of a michelle obama's push to encourage families to make

healthier food choices. >> folks are really starting to think about what they eat and how active they are, so they are scrutinizing labels and they are asking questions and they are changing what they feed their families. >> reporter: this morning the grocery manufacturers association says it's time for label changes but they should be based on the most current and reliable science. while at the monticello home in virginia. >> anything that makes life more simple is better for me. >> now did you catch that? six kids? we mentioned the serving sis changes to the labels. here is a 20-ounce bottle of soda. this label says right now that it's 2 1/2 senks but who actually splits these? they are going to change that. this becomes one serving and not two and a half. the ben and jerry's goes from four serves to two and typically yogurt from 6 ounces to 8 ounces to keep up with the times. guys, back to you.

>> tom, ice cream. don donny, you have it now. i've stopped because i know i couldn't stop unless i eat the whole thing. >> that is the problem. >> i think it should be more honest and say that is a whole serving or maybe i'm just a piggy but that is what happens when you eat that type of food. you can't stop. so that is like -- one serving of that is 500 calories which is ridiculous. i don't know how many grams of fat. can i take it further, tom? you're a reporter. i have an issue like -- look at this. cheetos and mountain dew and it's not nutrition in any way on the label. they should just say, not good for you. that would be more honest. this is 150 calories, ten grams of fat, serving size. ten senks in here? you would eat the whole thing. >> i love this stuff. >> explain the social

connectivity. >> the most important thing that is missing on the label is does it taste good? >> careful. i shook that. >> does it taste good? >> careful. >> this tastes wonderful. you've got to separate this from all other drinks because this is america's drink. that is america's nectar right there. >> tom, you're absolutely right. >> tom, what about calling nutrition labels nutrition labels and calling this food? it's not food, right? or is it? >> i don't know. you can eat crap, right? it's still good. >> it's just terrible. >> it's not good for you. i'm not trying to be difficult. it's just not. there is no need for a nutrition label. >> oh, no, no, no! not ruffles! >> you know what the good news is? you're not getting anywhere near my stuff. you can't reach through the camera and get this. this is all mine, baby! >> thank you, michelle, obama, but it is not enough. we are not being honest. that is not food.

has that has ruined my life actually. nbc tom costello, thanks. most moderation. you can't stop! >> a million bucks you can't eat just one! dave camp a republican congressman with a plan to reform the tax code? maybe not. we will talk to him next. ♪ this body made two amazing little human beings --

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humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself. the chairman is going to outline a draft. we know our tax system is broken and we all know it frankly gets

into the way of economic growth and we have talked about this and chairman has worked on this for years. it's time to have a public conversation about the issue of tax reform. so i welcome the conversation. frankly, i think it will be healthy and informative and i look forward to it. >> welcome back to "morning joe." that was house speaker john boehner yesterday, when asked if house republicans would support a sweeping proposal to reform the nation's tax code. joining us now is the man behind the plan, house ways and means committee chairman, republican congressman dave camp. congressman camp, good to have you on the show. >> good morning, mika. how are you? >> give me the key points. i'm good, thank you. of the tax overhaul i think is causing some of the controversy if you could. >> there are two key points. one is is this a reform that provides economic growth. you know, people aren't happy with the way things are and i don't think we should settle for 2% economic growth and median income is declining and kids not able to get jobs.

this increases our economy by 20% and increases median income by $1,300 a year and it simplifies our tax code. about 95% of filers no longer have to itemize so they will be able to file the simple form and we need to move this debate forward. it's a serious proposal and in all of the details and has the reporting and scoring by the independent referees that look at our legislation. >> i'm sure you're getting incredible support from your own party, correct? >> there's a lot of members that are supportive. a lot of are just trying to learn what is in it but i got a lot of great support. people like congressman paul ryan and others are very supportive and outside groups have looked at it like -- >> i was sarcastic, congressman. paul ryan seems to be distancing a tad bit from it. am i not correct about it? >> no. i think he is very supportive what i'm trying to do and reform and help in drafting the bill. other retailers know if we can

increase the jobs and grow the economy assess president john f. kennedy said a rising tide lifts all boats. we need to have a serious debate how we improve this economy and create jobs and raise incomes. >> congressman, a lot within this plan but i'm curious about two elements i'd like to ask you about. >> sure. >> one is why did i read here the refrain after you introduced this bill that it's dead on arrival, that nothing is going to happen to this bill and it's not going to move forward and not get out of the house, whatever. the other element i'm interested in would progress on for this bill or any other tax code reform bill improved if lobbyists were banned from appearing in the halls of congress outside the ways and means committee hearing room while the bill was being drafted for a period of like a year? >> well, look. as i travel the country and go back to michigan, one thing people say is things aren't good enough. and the other thing that is really discouraging is that they don't think things are going to get better, they don't think the

american dream is there for them or their families and we can't settle for that kind of environment. what this tax reform bill is creates economic growth and it creates jobs. and that is what we -- it creates income. look. median incomes have been declining the last several years and this reform increases median incomes for family and i think is very important as we move forward. >> we all know that but why do i keep reading it's dead on arrival and why so do many lobbyists lay claim to every semicolon in a bill like this and screw things up? >> that is why i thought it was important to put out a complete detailed proposal because you see what the tradeoffs are. look. if somebody says, look, i don't like that provision or like that you changed that and what we have done is reform tax policy to lower rates. and lower rates are what helped drive economic growth. if they say i don't like what you've done to reform then, we say, what is your complete comprehensive proposal? not how do you change one piece

of it and why it was important to do everything all at once. >> sir, this is thomas roberts. chuck schumer has responded -- a prediction that is being blunt saying any proposal that reduces it as the republican plan would do is d.o.a. and to mike's point about why we are hearing that act crow nim used in what you're trying to propose. how do you counter that say we will not listen if that is in there? >> if he is happy with the way things are, he can take that position. with doing that, we repel amt and lower rates for his constituents. i think people are interested in the simpler tax code where 95% of people don't have to go to an outside source or software in order to file their taxes. i think this is a debate we need to have. if that is the most important thing americans want, we are certainly going to hear about it and why it was revealed as a discussion draft. so that we can actually get feedback. this is the opposite of the health care bill. we do not have to pass it to find out what is in it.

the details are out there. we can have this very needed public deblate how to move this country forward and grow jobs and create income and this legislation does those kind of things. >> for a lot of americans, the first place they go as far as tax savings. >> look. that affects about after% ever mortgages and every existing mortgage is what we call grandfathered in and it's not affected. every financing of an existing mortgage is not affected. but look. this legislation actually increases housing prices because the economy grows and when the economy grows and people have jobs, they actually buy houses and when they buy houses, housing prices go up. so we actually have a positive effect on the housing market even though we touched that. when we do it, not for more government spending in washington but we do it to lower rates and simplify the code. >> joe scarborough is jumping in for a question next. >> great to see you, david, as

always. great you're optimistic about the prospects, even though everybody is shooting at you from all directions right now. what is the next step for you, to actually -- even if the bill doesn't pass this session, to get tax reform on the front burner of the debate in 2014? what is your next step? >> well, first, you know, a lot of people were skeptical about welfare reform and president clinton vetoed it and newt didn't know about it but it vetoed the next. the meeting this morning is with the committee to walk through in detail with the joint committee on taxation and treasury is sending people up. now we go back to the blocking and tackling of the congress and making sure members know what is in it and building support for it on the inside and the outside. having this debate with the american people about how we move the country forward. so it's all of those things now. we move now that the plan has been revealed it's out there and people can take a look at it and make their own judgments. >> congressman dave camp, thank you very much for coming on the

show this morning. >> thanks a lot. really appreciate it. up next, all-pro wisdom? super bowl champ matt birk is here what he calls the seven choices that lead to greatness. we will look through his new book when "morning joe" comes right back. ♪ captain obvious: i'm in a hotel. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy

that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly. ♪

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♪ so what do you do to avoid sort of the sophomore jinx? >> you know, you have to throw them a curveball and change it on them. >> now, everything is so

competitive, right? >> well, i know for our team, you know, it comes down to our owner, john allen, our gm, snyder, and coach carroll, and we have unbelievable players across the board. and that's the difference between our team versus anybody else. the level of play that we have in the first string, second, third string guys, unbelievable. we show that. we bring the energy. we compete every day, and have a lot of fun doing it. and we're still one of the youngest teams in the national football league. >> that was seattle seahawks' quarterback russell wilson on "morning joe" this week on his team's super bowl win. here with us now, another super bowl champion, retired ravens center matt birk. he's the co-author of the inspiring new book "all-pro wisdom: the seven choices that lead to greatness." i say inspiring, because the way it's laid out, the way it reads is wonderful. >> yeah. >> it kind of asks you the questions you should be asking yourself every day. and you have these seven

steps -- or seven choices that lead to greatness. how did you come about deciding what the choices would be? >> i didn't think i'd last 15 minutes in the nfl, much less 15 years. i think when i was there, i tried to soak it all up and take it all in. there's so many great men that play in the nfl, and so much inspiration on a daily basis. so during my 15-year career, i journaled things. i kept track of things. we constructed this framework, the seven choices, which tell people how to live with more passion, more stability, more focus. and whether you're a football player, you're on tv, it doesn't matter. everybody can choose what kind of life they want to live. >> you know, what's interesting in reading some of the elements of the book, understand your identity. you list as one of the key elements. and bill parcells, you know who he is, everybody knows who he is. he once told me that one of the keys to getting players to play, or getting human beings to react, was he, parcells -- the coach or anybody else -- had to

sit down with them, and would sit down with them and tell them who they were. did you ever have anybody implement that with you, sit down and tell you, "okay, here's who you are, matt." >> not in my face, like a bill parcells would. but you figure it out. i think either you choose who you are and what you're about. or you let other people determine that. and that's very dangerous if you do that. and i cite one of the stories in the book, when the ravens, when we won the super bowl three years ago, in december, we lost three games in a row. and everybody was up in arms saying, oh, no, the ravens, they're not going to make the playoffs, this and that. we didn't panic, because we knew what we were about. we didn't try to change anything, try to change who we were. we went back to our fundamentals, and played ravens football. that's why we were successful. >> matt, this book is really exciting. i think the essence is all about character. two issues recently in football that call into question character of a lot of football players, the issue that happened with the miami dolphins in terms of bullying.

my question, how does that go down in the locker room without people getting control of it? and secondly, we still have the issue of gay athletes. there are a lot of football players that come out and say, hey, choice or not choice it, will have an effect in the locker room. i'd love your thoughts on both of those. >> the miami dolphins. you're talking about two guys out of 1,800. the locker room is a unique culture. i'm not going to deny that. it's a very unique workplace. there's not many like it. but, you know, i'm not defending what happened. but certainly that's the worst of the nfl locker room, and the one positive coming out of that is it's going to change. football players are going to be held to a higher standard on how they conduct themselves at work, and that's a great thing. the first thing i think football players are is they're role models for young people, and the visibility and platform that the nfl provides players, we do need to conduct ourselves in a

professional manner at all times. the issue of the gay athletes. i'd say this. i played 15 years in the nfl. i played with gay players. at the end of the day, it's really not an issue. when you're at work, the nfl, everybody is just trying to win games. that's really what you're trying to do. and somebody's sexuality or lifestyle really doesn't come into play. >> so, matt, joe scarborough right there has a question for you. >> let's boil it down. so if you can boil it down to one thing that made you successful, or one bit of advice you'd like people to take from this book, what is it? >> i think it's fundamentals. i think sometimes we look for some magic formula or we think we have to go beyond ourselves with super human strength or effort to be successful. really, it boils down to fundamentals and being able to replicate those time and time and time again. consistency is the hallmark of greatness. it's not doing one thing spectacular one time. >> all right. the book is -- >> all right.

so it's just working -- of course, that all comes done to hard work, repetition, getting up early, working hard, going to bed late. you know, basically what you're saying is, there's no secret sauce. there's no shortcut to greatness, right? >> there isn't. and i think once you realize that, then you'll have the confidence and the motivation to move forward and just -- and just set your goal and work towards it. >> you know, i actually was reading it, and you think this is a guy's book -- >> no, it's not. >> -- it's the same visit give to a lot of women, especially about knowing who you are. >> football players will surprise you. >> yes, they do. you guys are okay. >> give to your kids. >> it's "all-pro wisdom." matt birk, thank you so much. nice to meet you. still ahead on "morning joe," meryl davis and charlie white will be here on set. more "morning joe" when we come back. you know that when a tree falls in the forest

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good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set we have mike barnicle, donny deutsch, and in washington, robert gibbs. and in austin, texas, mark mckennen. we have a lot to get to this morning. first of all, boys. >> mm. >> ooh, boy. >> cool ranch. >> don't you dare. we have a lot to talk about involving your food. you may not have it. >> ah. >> breaking news from ukraine.

overnight, armed men seized control of two government buildings as putin announces he's sending troops near ukraine's border. we'll have the latest on that. and then, michelle obama will announce this. this is why i'm holding this. >> white house doritos? >> new flavor? >> no. the labels on your food. like this -- [ laughter ] -- i call this "food" carefully, because it's not food. this right here -- >> ahh! america's drink. >> sorry, advertisers, this is -- can i say garbage, maybe poison. >> no. >> no. those are nice companies. >> they're great companies and they need to do more of the good stuff they do. but you know how you have a dorito and you can't have another? >> oh, god, thank you very much. >> no, no, i'm going to show you something. just take one. >> i love the cool ranch. >> you can't. they're addict inive. you eat the whole thing. they're going to change the labels to make it more realistic

for the amount you eat. those are my d.t.s. don't touch these. they're poison, too. let's get to the new "the new york times"/cbs poll, a snap shot of the american public unimpressed with the congress and the president. more than half of all americans disapprove of the president's performance in office. his approval numbers have literally flipped from about a year ago. the opinion of congress is even worse. 80% disapprove of the job lawmakers have done. but when it comes to the midterms, republicans are faring better than democrats. 42% say they are more likely to choose the republican candidate where they live. the favorables for both parties are upside down. but most, 56%, are sour on the gop's long-term prospects. compare that to the democrats, 53% say they're mostly hopeful about the party's future. what is going on here, joe? >> well, it's a great question. and i'm very glad we have robert gibbs and mark mckennen, two

guys that worked for presidents, looked at a lot of polls. let's start with you, robert gibbs. you have a president who's down to 41%. that's obviously a real concern. you have democrats that aren't doing well, as many think they would be doing with the midterms coming up. and yet you look at the issues, you look at brand i.d. and all this other stuff. it seems like the republicans are doing much worse than a lot of the areas. as you look at the conflicting numbers, what do you take away from it? >> i take away from it than what is different than a presidential year and an election year that's dominated by gubernatorial and congressional races, and that is a very, very different electorate. i think what makes this year very challenging for democrats is you have basically a six-year itch of a presidency that has a low approval rating. you've got a lot of big races, particularly senate races, that will take place on terrain that is not as friendly to democrats or president obama.

and an electorate that is likely to be older and, therefore, less young. what i mean by that, is senior also vote at a higher number than they would in a presidential year. african-americans, hispanics, asians, young people will vote in a lower number in terms of the vote share. that combined make it is a difficult terrain for the democratic party. >> robert, the 41%, the president's approval rating. it's very low for a "the new york times" poll. that surprised me, the number was lower than i expected. why 41%? >> well, i think that's a number you've seen roughly where the president has probably been at since sometime early in the fall. i think the number, when you look at -- you look inside the poll, and you read the story, you have people that are very upset with, not surprisingly, what they're not getting out of washington. they're not getting compromise. they're not getting discussion

about what should be happening around some of the bigger economic issues. they know that they're not likely to see anything come out of this congress and signed by this president. and i think in many ways, it's a pox on both your houses. congressional approval is fairly low. presidential approval is fairly low. and at this point, it seems republicans are not being penalized or seen necessarily or completely as the party that's stopping all this stuff. again, americans are more just sort of saying to anybody in washington, we know you're not getting the job done. >> mark, you look at these numbers and see a lot of different things. i tell you what i see in here is exactly what republicans have finally started talking about over the past several months, since the debacle in the fall, and that is we may do well in the midterms, but we're really concerned about 2016, and we

need to get our act together not by finding the reincarnation of ronald reagan but coming up with issues that actually reflect our values and beliefs, but grab the imagination of the american people. as i always say, you can beat something with nothing in midterms. but when you are running for president, you can't beat something with nothing. that's what i get as a republican out of these numbers. good news/bad news. what did you get? >> well, i agree with robert, overall it's never good for -- rarely good for the incumbent party in the midterm election. the exception was 2002 in the post-9/11 environment. but voters aren't happy. they're not happy about the company. they're not happy with obamacare. the buck will stop with the incumbent party in power. quite likely the outcome will be the republicans keep the house. there's a possibility that the republicans will pick up the senate, even losing mitch mcconnell's seat. so it's possible we'll have divided government again until 2016. it is an opportunity for

republicans to start putting forward a proactive, positive message. i was pleased to see dave camp come out yesterday with a tax plan, although i know the leadership isn't entirely happy to be changing the subject. but i think it's -- i think it's a good time to be talking about our plans for the future in 2016. >> donny, you can look individually at the president. you can look at the way congress is viewed. you take this all in total, 63% of americans in this poll think the country's on the wrong track. 80% are either angry or dissatisfied with the way things are going in washington. it's an old theme at this point. we see it in just about every poll. this is, again, as robert said, kind of a pox on both houses. >> yeah, it's interesting, when you look at the -- there's only three-point spread between the democrats and republicans, both on the negative sides, statistically. you know, not a big issue. i actually think that this is going to be a case of best human being wins. i think one could give an argument -- joe, i actually am a little sideways from where you are on this, as far as i think

more than ever -- because the issues you could argue on both sides. you have the republicans that can ride the anti-obamacare wave. the democrats that can ride the republican party of no wave. and i actually think what's going to move each race is not as much issues as compelling human beings that motivate people, particularly as we go to 2016. because i think, willie to your point, everybody's point, both parties are on the way negative side. to me, more than ever, we need compelling human beings. people are not going to be on party lines. >> there's never been a more compelling human being in the last 50 years, or since john f. kennedy, to run for the presidency than barack obama. his message of hope and change resonated throughout the coun y country. that, i think, more than most anything else that's going on presently is reflected in the polls, that is, you know, low favorability rating. people expected so much. it's natural now for them to blame everything on the president. he's the face of washington. not your individual member of congress.

that's the result of the numbers, partially. >> well, i wonder, robert gibbs, if this also is a reflection, as we look at the numbers that don't add up, issue, after issue, and the democrats do well. and you look at obamacare, it obviously remains a huge drag on this president, and perhaps the democratic party. and i'm just wondering is 2014, the midterm in 2014, going to end up being like 2010, and possibly a reflection on the affordable care act, on obamacare? >> well, i think the outcome of 2014 is a lot like what mark said. i think you'll see republicans retain the house, redistricting after those 2010 elections, probably have not -- we won't see a huge wave and probably not see a lot of change there. the senate, i think, is very, very much in play. tough terrain for the democratic

party. and think it's going to be incumbent upon democrats to go out and talk about the positive benefits of health care reform, talk about the lack of denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, keeping, you know, your children up to the age of 26 on your health care. i think if democrats make a very big strategic mistake, if they leave the landscape simply to republicans and the koch brothers to describe health care reform, if they do that, that is a recipe for complete disaster. they have to go out and talk about the positive benefits of it. >> okay. we've got a lot to get to. let me add this. as a footnote to this conversation. the latest cbs news/"the new york times" poll shows americ s americans -- who americans want to run for president. among democratic candidates, it's far and away hillary clinton, 64%. doubling the next closest contender, vice president joe biden. it's a far closer field among republicans with rand paul narrowly in the lead. senator ted cruz at the back of

the pack. 54% say they don't know enough about him, which is interesting. moving on now to arizona. after days of speculation, arizona governor jan brewer has vetoed a controversial bill that divided the state. supporters touted the legislation as protecting religious freedom for businesses, but critics say sb-1062 was a little more than legalizing denial of service to same-sex couples. the governor's decision follows intense pressure, including thousands of petitions from human rights activists and press releases from some of the nation's largest corporations -- among them, american airlines, delta air lines, apple, even major league baseball. the governor vetoed the plan saying there are more pressing issues at hand for the state. >> our immediate challenge is fixing a broken child protection system. instead, this is the first policy bill to cross my desk. senate bill 1062 does not

address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i've not heard one example in arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences. after weighing all of the arguments, i have vetoed senate bill 1062 moments ago. >> okay. both of the state's u.s. senators, john mccain and jeff flake, who are republicans publicly lobbied for the governor's veto and hailed the decision that she made. willie. >> mark, let's call it like it is. governor brewer was looking at business. she was hearing from all of the corporations we look at there. she heard from the commissioner of the nfl, that they might take the super bowl away from arizona. hundreds of millions of dollars of convention business coming in and out of arizona. she made a play, and she disappointed a lot of conservatives with her decision to veto that bhil. but i'm not so sure this was a

principle stand by her as much as it was about money. >> it was a coalition of the reasonable that weighed in. it wasn't just business. it was, you know, both the republican senators from ariz a arizona. so, you know, this was a ridiculous piece of legislation. even the people -- many of the people who voted for it, even republicans in arizona, said they didn't understand it. they didn't understand what the ultimate consequences would be. so this was a big black-eye for arizona, and not good for the republican party, by the way. and so, we're glad to have this off the radar screen. >> i'm a little slow. explain the bill to me. >> so -- >> i come clean. i don't really understand most of what goes on on the show. >> actually, i found the bill to be stunning. and she pointed out very broad, you could deny service to same-sex couples or any other -- >> anyone. >> -- kind of group that you felt -- >> what -- okay, to that point, what -- in this day and age -- >> i know. it was archaic. >> how was that even in motion? >> you have to ask yourself, the question, what's going on in

arizona? this is a string of things that have occurred in arizona beginning with the refusal, you know, to recognize martin luther king day years ago. and you have, as just indicated, as mika just indicated, and mark mckennen just indicated, several members of the legislature in arizona who voted for it, and then said, "gee, i didn't realize what was in the bill." it's, like, two pages. >> the idea behind it was to protect -- this is the way it was sold -- protect religious liberties so if you were fundamentally opposed based on your religious beliefs to homosexuality, and you're the owner after private business, you should not have to serve someone that's homosexual. >> willie and i walk into a 7-eleven holding hands and i order a big gulp, the guy could say -- >> wow. just -- all right. joe? >> well, i was just going to say, you know, as we were talking about yesterday, there's also the possibility it's so

overly broad that somebody -- i can walk into a place and somebody could say, well, he's divorced, i'm not going to serve him. >> yeah, right. >> right. >> or they could, you know, see donny walk in, and say, you know, isn't it -- >> they could say a lot of things, joe. >> isn't it a sin to be wearing baby gap muscle t-shirts? >> and a thong. >> the thong doesn't -- >> while dating a 21-year-old woman. no, you know, the thing is, it is so broad and overly generalized that you could have people denying service to so many -- it just -- the only thing i'm wondering, donny, is why it took the governor so long to veto this? why did it take her two days? it seems like a much smarter move to get it, quietly veto it and be done with it. >> you know why. she has the fling she has to play to. she came out at the end of the day against it. you know, it's the same reason

politically it always goes this way. we know why she did it. and it just -- it's just sad that in this day and age, even on the table. >> this is something that joe -- you know, on a broader level -- you've talked about, and the republicans that, you know, want to play to the base and republicans that want to win. and i think the surprising thing here, you know, is that she didn't see this coming. is that fair? i mean, who could -- >> well, i don't know. i personally -- i like what she said. she was talking about what her goal was, fixing a broken system to protect children, and i like what she -- she said this is the first policy bill that you guys send my way? seriously? you know, it's the same thing that happened in new hampshire. new hampshire republicans got control of the house in 2010 and, you know, the first couple of bills they passed didn't seem to appeal to the ideological

base for more than the rest of the people, and they lost the state legislature a couple of years later. so, yeah, it's -- it's -- let's go to mark really quickly, and, mark, let's wrap it up. it seems to me, you know, republicans unfortunately we face an uphill battle, because when our people do something stupid, it's national news the next day. like this. i mean, democrats have much more latitude to do stupid things across the fruited plains without having the national media pick it up and say, well, they represent the entire democratic party. that is an ongoing problem for us, i guess because we're out of power, right? >> well, that's true, joe. but the problems we're bringing on ourselves. we keep trying to sort of rebrand the party, and we have one step forward, two steps back with incidents like this in arizona. so we just need to -- we need to

put a better foot forward and stop having these kind of things happen. we did have some good news out of texas yesterday. maybe we'll talk more about that, with the federal district court judge that ruled against the prohibition against gay marriage in texas. so i see that as a good step forward for republicans. >> coming up on "morning joe," politico has new details on vice president biden's clashes with the white house political team. plus, why he says he's the most qualified democrat to run in 2016. even if the polls suggest otherwise. mike allen explains in the morning "playbook." bill karins check on the forecast. >> the west coast dealing with a wet storm. that's good. snow at the higher elevations. we'll start there. in los angeles, you've had rain overnight. about half an inch of rain, so that's great. roads are probably a little slick. it's funny for the rest of the country to hear that, it's just rain, why so slippery? when it hasn't rained in a while, all of the cars, they drip the oil, the chemicals,

gets a film, a slippery film. so in areas leak las vegas where it hasn't rained in three months, they're told to be very careful, roads will be slippery, especially in the beginning when it starts to rain. as far as the rest of the country, they'll deal with storm number two. storm number one fizzles out. number two, it will dump 3 inches of rain in california. it will go across the country bringing wintry weather with it in the days ahead, especially sunday/monday. as far as this morning, careful in the northern plains. minneapolis, minus 31, ridiculous. extremely cold for this time of year, even with sunshine, from minneapolis through the great lakes. the cold air peaks over the northeast on friday. and my timing of the snow and ice event, central plains sunday. northeast mid-atlantic as we gh into your monday. more details on that in the days ahead. too little too early for snowfall reports. as far as this shot? that's the hudson river. all the way up, midway between new york city and albany, the poughkeepsie area, the coast guard cutter has work to do,

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♪ all right. let's take a look at the morning paymers for some of the other major headline this is morning. "the new york times." there's new information about the whereabouts of ousted ukrainian president viktor yanukovych.

russian news organizations are reporting yanukovych is in moscow and has asked for protection from extremists. he was last seen on saturday. also overnight, armed men reportedly seized control of two government buildings in the region of crimea and raised the russian flag. there's also increased tension between the u.s. and russia after russian president vladimir putin announced he was sending more than 150,000 troops near ukraine's border for military exercises. russia says the wargames are not related to the crisis in ukraine and we are supposed to believe that, joe? >> well, mika, that didn't take long, did it? you predicted that would happen. >> end of the olympics. >> we said as soon as the olympics ended, you said he would crack down and send troops that way. >> well, doesn't -- i think it's frightening. i don't really understand where the line is with putin. >> there is no line, unfortunately. "the daily news" reports that

images from outside syria's capital are showing the level of desperation for those caught -- that are caught in the crossfire of the country's long-running civil war, also sponsored by vladimir putin. thousands of people line up to receive food supplies. many of whom show signs of starvation. the buildings in the backgrounds bear the scars of the near-constant fighting that's been going on in syria for too long, as well over 100,000 people have died and the slaughter continues because of a regime propped up by vladimir putin. "the detroit free press," the federal government will investigate general motors, their recall of faulty ignition switches. yesterday, gm doubled the number of cars affected by the recall, bringing the total to 1.6 million. 33 crashes, 13 deaths linked to the ignition switch issue. the automaker say it is will cooperate with the investigation. and from a parade of papers,

"the san jose mercury news." tesla motors is planning on building the world's largest battery factory to mass produce its cars. the giga factory would create 6,000 jobs and be powered by wind and solar farms. they say they're exploring locations in texas, nevada, arizona, and new mexico. the factory aims to drive down the cost of lithium batteries and make tesla's cars more affordable. let's go to "the atlanta journal-constitution" delta air lines will introduce changes to its frequent flyer program. i wonder if you'll be able to use it now. the airline plans -- >> yes, of course, you can. >> -- to reward customers based on ticket prices rather than miles flown. delta joins jet blue, southwest, and virgin airlines that have similar programs. experts predict other major airlines will follow delta's lead. the changes are set to roll out next year. i say that, joe, because often you have points but you can only

use them for certain flights at random places at random times, and then you can't. you know it's complicated. >> it can be difficult. i can say, though, and i've seen a real change over the past couple of years at delta and how they treat their frequent flyer customers, and it's, for the most part, very positive changes. of course, as you know, i have not always been positive about my experiences with delta going, you know, 30 years back. >> i'm going to try to use the points and see what happens. >> without a doubt, a big change. joe -- >> joe, i'd like to take this opportunity, while we're on airlines, and still outraged that at teeterboro, no more pecans. >> this is for those who live, of course, actually to the west of the hudson river. donny is talking about where rich people go in their private planes, and in donny's case, helicopters to fly out privately, and he's upset in the waiting room, the waiting room

of teeterboro is just -- you don't have the people in the pink vests running up and offering you -- >> outrage. >> -- prime rib and gray poupon, or whatever you rich people eat that fly on your private airplanes. again, the age of de blasio, it's hitting you smack between the eyes. this is "the miami herald." this is a story you've been waiting for, my friends. video of justin bieber taking a sobriety test in miami, now available to the public. [ laughter ] you know what? why are we even reading this? t.j.? t.j.? >> this is great video. >> did they check this video with you, t.j.? >> no, not this time. >> not this time. >> oh, wait a second. >> he's not doing that -- >> did she snapchat that to you? is that how we get that? >> i thought that was a pretty good test. >> the turnaround is -- >> better than me. >> the turnaround was a bad one.

>> a bad choice. >> politico. with us now, mr. mike allen, he has a look at the "playbook." great piece up on politico by glenn thrush about vice president joe biden digs deep into him, and in it politico reporting that the vice president has clashed with the president's staff. take us through some of the highlights of the piece. there's so much to get through in glenn's piece. >> yeah, willie, this is the cover story of the second edition of our politico magazine "joe biden in winter." and glenn rode an amtrak train with biden up to philadelphia, had an amazing conversation, came away saying that he still is a happy warrior, he recognizes he's probably not going to be president, but is not ready to give up, and definitely plans to try. glenn came away both from this conversation with the vice president and from talking to countless people around him that the vice president does want to do it. willie, the juiciest three words in this article are when the vice president is talking about his chances in '16. he told three friends that glenn

talked to that he thinks he is the most qualified for '16, a shot at hillary clinton there. he said he's seen her up close and believes he can go toe-to-toe with her. willie, the vice president's plan is this year to travel around the country as much as he can, helping out candidates running in the midterm, talk about infrastructure around the country. the one thing he's not going to do, he's not going to set up a leadership pac to give money to other candidates, because he thinks it would be too late to be a difference. and at the very end, glenn flush asks the vice president what his case would be if he ran for president, and funny enough, joe biden had an answer ready. he said because of his record, his experience, and his relationships with individual foreign leaders and domestic leaders. that's why he's telling friends he's the most qualified. >> in fact, glenn thrush reports on a memo drafted by ron chain, positioning biden in the 2016

race as a progressive alternative to hillary clinton. so it's at least on their minds suffice it to say. there's also one that's already making news, one piece of this, where he says i have a blanking target on my back, telling a confidante about his relationship with democrats up on the hill, including harry reid. what did he mean by that, that he has a target on his back? >> he was talking about the fact that initially he was so valuable on the hill, then been sidelined, and recognizes that he's in a different place in the party than so many of the democratic leaders are. that's part of what has put him at odds with some members of the president's staff. the article reports he's no longer on speaking terms with jim messina, the manager of president obama's re-election campaign, the man that we've talked about on the show, the democratic karl rove, because he's made it clear he's supporting hillary clinton, which the vice president takes as a diss. glenn points out, makes a great point in here, one of the reasons vice president biden has been so great on the show, glenn

points out that he's a refreshing humanity at a time when so much of politics is driven by calculation and money. >> politico's mike allen, thanks, mike. the next guest didn't win the gold medal in sochi. they smashed a world record along the way. meryl davis and charlie white join us along with their moms. their moms are so cool. i got to meet them in sochi. that's next on "morning joe." iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com

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♪ ♪ i don't know, thomas, can we call them detroit's finest? >> sure, we can. america's finest, too. >> meryl davis and charlie white on the rockefeller center ice rink early this week. the pair are the first americans

to ever win a gold medal in ice dancing at the olympics. do you get tired of hearing that? >> no. >> you can say it again if you want. >> they join us now. congratulations. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> it's breathtaking. >> thank you so much. >> it's such a good-news story on every level, starting with detroit. i can't get my eyes off the size of the medals. they're huge. they're heavy. >> they're substantial. every one of them -- >> charlie almost fell off the set. i saw that happen. >> so what an incredible feat. >> thank you. >> where do you begin with describing how much your life has changed? >> i think it's still sinking in. it's been about a week since we finished competing and won the gold medal, and things -- things are slowly starting to sink in, and it's really excitxciting. >> meryl, for you and charlie, the fact that you've grown up together, to get to this point, so this has been a long, hard-fought effort. it didn't happen overnight. >> no, it's been a 17-year

journey together. we started together when we were 8 and 9. and it's been a great journey. we've certainly put in a lot of work. we had a lot of help from our moms and, you know, our wonderful coaches. >> and how does that, for both of you trying to have lives outside of skating, devoting 17 years together, the type of friendship -- can you look at each other and just know what the other person is thinking, and as you're going through all of the interviews and having to deal with people, you're like a married couple, basically. >> it's scary. [ laughter ] >> that's adorable. >> yeah, charlie just remains quiet. >> he knows not to say anything. >> right. huh. interesting. you talk about a 17-year jour y journey. >> yeah. >> i know -- go ahead. >> it's been amazing. it's the trust and the respect that we have for one another that allowed us to get to the point where we could win an olympic gold medal. and so many dance teams, you know, can't last 17 years, but

like meryl said, with the help of our parents, it made a big difference. >> when you first got up on the blades, it was with a puck and a stick. in hockey. >> i started both at 5. you know, i played hockey until i was 18. really had a lot of passion for it. you know, bhoeth of us have very athletic skating styles, and it sort of helped us in the sport of ice dancing, as well. >> okay. so for the biggest fans over the years are your moms. chairm chairman da cheryl davis and becky white. the hugs go to moms. thank you for coming in. which one is cheryl and which one is jackie? and you guys watch "morning joe"? >> oh, yes. >> thank you. what's it like to watch these kids develop the way they have, and you guys have been there every step of the way. >> it's been exciting. it's been fun. >> exhausting. >> yeah, sometimes.

>> you went to every event? >> yes. >> yes. >> i missed one. my husband went to one in germany. >> wow. >> i was at the x games in california with my son. >> full-time job? we had jobs. >> what? >> i was a teacher and she works with her husband in a company. >> yeah, we have jobs. >> they didn't go to skating first thing in the morning. they only went after school. >> super moms. i'm feeling kind of -- what's the word? that's amazing. so before they compete and get on the ice, what is going through your minds, and how nervous do you get, or not at this point? >> i've said it times if i could die from being nervous, i wouldn't be here anymore. i'm not kidding. we at times have gotten so nervous that we just doesn't know what to do with ourselves, and we try not to let it show. because we don't want to make them nervous. but they know it. there's no hiding it. >> what's been the most challenging about the journey, if i could ask, in all honesty? >> we talked about this the other day, and i think we said

it was their failures, sometimes watching them fail and picking themselves back up and moving on. it was hard to watch it. but to stand back, that was one of the biggest things they learned from, the failures, setting goals and going on from there. >> let's bring it back to the gold medallists, and if the two of you had 10 seconds to say exactly what you feel about these two women standing next to me, what would it be? >> 10 seconds can't even begin to encapsulate the gratitude we have towards them. they've been there for us every step of the way. you know, thank you is never enough. >> charlie? >> yeah, absolutely. you know, their passion and dedication to both of us has allowed us to chase our dreams and achieve them. so i love you is, again, not enough. >> thanks, mom. >> thanks, mom. >> that's all we want to hear, right? just want to hear it once in a while. meryl davis and charlie white, congratulations to you both. >> thank you. >> thanks, mom.

thanks, cheryl and jackie, as well. up next, what's driving today's markets? cnbc's brian sullivan has "business before the bell." keep it here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the congestion sufferers who feel like there's a brick on their face. who are so congested,

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but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ welcome back, everybody. time for "business before the bell" with cnbc's brian sullivan. we have weekly jobless numbers, released moments ago. how are they shaping up to look out for today? >> good morning, everybody. they came in higher than expected. the consensus was 14,000 less than they came in. the problem now with the weather being the way it is, i think people are discounting some of the numbers. the better news, the four-week moving average, which is what you want to look at, because the week-to-week numbers can be

volatile because of things like the weather, remained steady. still above 300,000, but claims this week coming in above expectations, still, the number won't move markets. the ukraine news is starting to trickle through the u.s. marks, as well. not only as the former of the former slash i still think i'm president of ukraine still missing, so are billions of dollars. >> and that just means, again, as we look at the escalating tensions happening there, and think when what type of aid will come from the states or potentially from russia, who is going to get their loyalty through cash. let's talk about tesla and these giant expansion plans, the potential of them. how are markets reacting to that thought? >> it's good news, right? let's move on to some of that. it's cold outside. we need better news. the battles for model s are made by panasonic. tesla saying late yesterday it will open up a battery plant in the american southwest -- that's all they said. we don't know if it's yuma,

arizona, california, wherever it is. they'll open up a battery plant to make the next generation batteries for the next generation tesla. this plant could employ as many as 6,500 u.s. workers. it's a $5 billion plant. they need to ramp up production, guys. they can only produce about 21,000, 22,000 vehicles a year. demand is still much higher. you have a month, three-month waiting list for a tesla. so we talk about jobs, we talk about american jobs, and we talk about american manufacturing jobs. it's a good headline. it's nice to be able to deliver some good news for once. >> brian, i'm not asking you to respond to this with any certainty, because i don't think any of us would have any certainty about this, but tesla's plans to build a plant, the arizona stuff that's gone on for the past couple of weeks, do you think that would play any factor at all in not only tesla, but any other company thinking of going into arizona? >> yeah, doggone right. i mean, yesterday, you had the ceo of salesforce.com that says

if you pass this law, you can forget corporate events. they used to have big corporate events at the phoenician and higher-end resorts, and mark came out, and said, hey, arizona, if you pass this, sale% force is not coming there en masse, and he said, i love the phoenician, i'll miss it, but we're not coming. you had big business coming up. if that passed, tesla might rethink that, if indeed, this would be in arizona. they said southwest. again, tesla is in california. maybe they meant los angeles. who knows? yeah, to your point, fairly certain. >> cnbc's brian sullivan. thank you so much. >> take care. coming up next, anything, and just about anything does happen on live television. well, this meteorologist learned that the hard way. a weather report from california that you have to see. the memorable moment that led to this meteorologist freak-out coming up on "morning joe." ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement?

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coach calls her a team player. she's kind of special. she makes the whole team better.

he's the kind of player that puts the puck, horsehide, bullet. right where it needs to be. coach calls it logistics. he's a great passer. dependable. a winning team has to have one. somebody you can count on. somebody like my dad. this is my dad. somebody like my mom. my grandfather. i'm very pround of him. her. them.

♪ currently, there's a serial flasher on the loose in portland, oregon. the man has been reportedly harassing female runners in the morning. watch this, and you'll see why this story captured my attention. >> it's the first thing i think of when i wake up every morning to go for my run. >> this runner is telling fox 12 about the moment she was flashed near 31st and stanton last month. her encounter is one of at least eight involving the serial flasher in northeast portland. >> 5'9", a little heavier set,

dark hair. and what else would i say about him? people have described him as looking like jimmy kimmel. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> first of all (unintelligible), secondly, what i do in my time is personal business. >> very important caqualificati, 6'1". >> bill karins, our exclusive meteorologist, you may be under the impression that all weather people are tough-minded, they fear nothing. not everyone can live up to that standard. take a look. >> in bakersfield, 61. looking -- oh, my ghososh. did you see that? sorry. there was a spider that fell -- ahhh. >> take it easy, perlman. >> i hate spiders, man, especially when you're bald, you feel them crawling on your head. >> did you get it? >> no, i didn't see it.

all right. i apologize. sorry. just creeped out right now. i'm going to step over here. you look at these temperatures -- i'm not standing by that wall. temperatures running in the upper 70s. above-normal weather here for us today. no records -- >> that might have been a black widow. >> that's -- that just scares me. what shouldn't scare anybody is temperatures dropping down and -- >> there it is. >> i apologize for all that. but just know rain is on the way after a gorgeous sunny afternoon, temperatures in the 70s. >> i love in the background, you can hear someone say, a black widow. >> he stomps on it and then he amol ja apologi apologizes, and then -- it's a lesson, don't interrupt the weatherman during the weather cast. >> oh, please, stop it. you could scare you with a ham sandwich. >> well, they're kind of slimy sometimes, they get the pink

coloring. >> yeah, yeah. >> they are kind of slimy. can you imagine a spider on your bald head? >> why are you looking at me? >> you were right near me. right in my eye line. anyway, what if anything did we learn today? [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

♪ we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? $500,000. maybe half-million. say a million dollars. [ dan ] then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. ♪ i was trying to like pull it a little further. you know, i was trying to stretch it a little bit more. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. [ man ] i looked around at everybody else and i was like, "are you kidding me?" [ dan ] it's just human nature to focus on the here and now. so it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ ♪

and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly.

hey, welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what you learned today. mika, i can tell you what i learned. >> tell me. >> t.j. is like monica, sends the greatest snapchats at 1:00 in the morning. we were talking about this. and look. they ripped you off. the magic of balloons, and you did it, balloons for all of the children in the world. it's amazing, mika. what did you learn today? >> i don't think they ripped me off. julia louis-dreyfus, i gave her a run for her money. thomas roberts, you did a little dance, a little jig to match your outfit. tell us what you learned in five seconds than less. >> i learned my pants didn't

split, and i might need to button up. >> i learned disco is back. >> put joe and dave in the room together, and dave will come out with a tax deal. >> thank you for having me talk about eating disorders and food news as a component of today's problem. joe, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." stick around now, because we have chuck todd and "the daily rundown" straight ahead. have a good day. >> thank you, joe! a brewing backlash comes to an end. arizona's governor vetoes a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians. the decision was widely cheered, but is this still more scar tissue for a state and a party that can't afford it? plus, an executive initiative. it may shape the rest of president obama's post-white house life. we're going to talk to senior white house advisor valerie jaret about his push to help young men of color. also this